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ELECTROCATALYSIS

An electrochemical way to pure ethylene

Thermocatalytic hydrogenation is used industrially to produce ethylene at a reasonable purity, but at the cost of expensive catalysts, moderate selectivity, and potentially dangerous process conditions. Now, an electrochemical approach based on copper-based electrodes is suggested as a viable sustainable alternative.

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Fig. 1: Schematic representation of an electrochemical cell for the reduction of acetylene to ethylene.

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Correspondence to Christian Durante.

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Durante, C. An electrochemical way to pure ethylene. Nat Catal 4, 537–538 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00657-3

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